How
to make #MSWL work for you.
When I accidentally stumbled across the Manuscript Wishlist tag (#MSWL) on Twitter a few weeks ago, I immediately got really excited. This is the kind of
information that can really help ambitious publishers and writers. September
24th was the official #MSWL day, but agents and editors are still posting more
wish list items and information, making this tag a treasure trove of
information about the kinds of manuscripts that people in the industry are
personally looking for.
For example, scrolling through the tweets reveals current trends
like YA/ MG novels with female protagonists, novels with fantasy elements, and
novels featuring racial and sexual diversity. As always, it depends on the
individual agent and/or editor’s taste, but it’s still interesting to see what
is in demand.
Besides this information, these MSWL tweets are perfect prompts
for all writers. Whether you’ve got writer’s block and need something to
trigger the next stage in your story, or you’re between projects and want some
good writing practice, or you’re a budding author who needs a little
inspiration. No matter what kind of writer you are, these two sentence wishlist
items double as prompts that will make you think about what you’re writing and
inspire more creativity, so make sure to check them out.
For writers with a full length novel under the belt, if you see a
tweet that sounds EXACTLY like what you’re writing, that’s great! However, that
doesn’t mean you should immediately submit your query to whoever posted the
wish. Individual agents will tweet if they’re looking for submissions and
specify where to look for submission information. Generally, however, sending
unsolicited submissions should be avoided. If the agent doesn’t tweet
about how to submit, try looking up the individual agent and reading their
submissions guidelines to have the best shot at being read.
If you, like I, don’t have a Twitter account, follow http://agentandeditorwishlist.tumblr.com,
which compiles the relevant tweets in the tag. Best of luck and happy writing!
By: Belinda Huang
